Kindle booming at Amazon

Some may find this hard to believe, but the humble Amazon Kindle book reader appears to be a hit. After numerous gripes from early reviewers claiming it was not quite ready for prime time and problems with the Kindle being out of stock during the holiday season, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says the Kindle now comprises a whopping 12 percent of book sales on the site (for books which are available in both print and electronic format).

What's even more phenomenal is that Amazon says that figure was 6 percent only two months ago, indicating an unprecedented doubling of sales in such a short amount of time. Amazon now has 130,000 titles available on the Kindle.

The numbers seem on the excessive side. After running out of hard copies months ago, I listed my two books on Amazon for the Kindle format (check out the Kindleized versions of Half Mast and Five Stars here if you're so inclined). Total sales for Kindle: Five copies since March. I don't have any printed books to compare sales to, but other digital copy sales (which are a little more expensive but which come in standard PDF format) have been exponentially higher. That said, a book on how to become a film critic isn't exactly a John Grisham thriller, but I'm not even seeing 12 percent of electronic copy sales go to the Kindle. But hey, maybe I'm the outlier that proves the rule.

Assuming Bezos' numbers are correct, why are so many books for the Kindle apparently selling so well? A big part is likely the steeply discounted price of books, which persists longer than most had anticipated. Amazon is still deeply discounting all titles for the platform just as it did during the launch: Most Kindle books are $9.99, compared to $14, $16, or higher for most new releases in hardcover (and $20 and up for older titles). The device itself is still expensive (though the price has finally dropped a little, to $359), but avid readers likely see themselves as recouping the cost of the unit quickly. It's hard to ignore one final point: Amazon has also been ruthlessly promoting the device. It's virtually dominated the Amazon.com home page all year long.

Regardless of whether Bezos is 100 percent accurate on the figures he's offered, congrats to him and Amazon on what looks to be a true sleeper hit. Have you bought one yet?